Jerusalem's winter roads

According to the Or Yarok traffic safety nonprofit organization, the risk of traffic accidents increases significantly during the winter months.

Winter roads in Jerusalem (photo credit: JERUSALEM INSTITUTE FOR POLICY RESEARCH)
Winter roads in Jerusalem
(photo credit: JERUSALEM INSTITUTE FOR POLICY RESEARCH)
Daylight Saving Time ended in Israel on October 27, when we turned back our clocks, ushering in winter months when darkness falls about an hour earlier, and we enter the season of sporadic rain, thunder and lightning, steaming cups of hot cocoa, and… traffic accidents.
According to the Or Yarok traffic safety nonprofit organization, the risk of traffic accidents increases significantly during the winter months. Winter downpours lead to rain-slicked, muddy streets, which considerably heighten the possibility that a vehicle may lose traction and slide out of control. The fact that Israeli winters are characterized by long periods between rainfalls does not improve this situation. On the contrary, these dry spells mean that every rainfall is like the “first rain,” when there is an increased danger of skidding.
According to statistics provided by Or Yarok, during the past decade (2008-2017) in the winter months more than 14,000 people were injured in traffic accidents resulting from wet or muddy road conditions, and about 220 people were killed – an average of 22 people a year, based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).
Approximately half of those hurt in these accidents were injured within the city limits and the boundaries of the residential areas. Jerusalem was the city where the accidents took place and was found to have the highest number of casualties.
One might have assumed that the rain played a major role, but according to data provided by the Meteorological Service (for the years 1980-2010) the number of rainy days in Jerusalem (60) was similar to the number in Tel Aviv (56).
The figures don't necessarily indicate that Jerusalem has the highest risk of traffic accidents, since it is the largest city in Israel in terms of number of residents, and is a major city to which people drive from all over the country, so that the number of traffic accidents that occur there is greater, when compared to other cities.
Beyond the weather-related risk which is present during the winter months, Or Yarok found that in Israel over the course of a year, the risk of traffic accidents increases on specific days and at specific hours. According to an analysis conducted by the organization, (based on CBS statistics [2013-2017]) for the total number of people injured in accidents, the day of the week when one is most in danger of being injured in a traffic accident is Thursday, followed by Sunday. In Jerusalem, the most dangerous days are first Sunday, followed by Thursday; in Tel Aviv the most dangerous days are Sunday and Monday; in Petah Tikva Wednesday and Sunday; and in Netanya, Friday and Wednesday are the days when the risk is highest.
As to the most dangerous hours, according to an Or Yarok analysis of the CBS statistics for 2018, across Israel, the time when one is most likely to be injured in a traffic accident is between 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. This is also the most dangerous hour in Jerusalem, while in Tel Aviv it is the hour between 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., in Haifa the hour between 4 p.m. to 5 p.m., and in Beersheba the hour between 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Drive carefully!
Translated by Gilah Kahn-Hoffmann.